A Billion In Miracles Celebrated

Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, the region’s Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, is joining area Walmart stores and the Bangor Sam’s Club store in celebrating a special milestone. Recently, Walmart and Sam’s Club reached the $1 billion mark in fundraising for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals nationally, which is the largest amount ever raised by a company for a nonprofit.
Locally, through their annual fundraising campaigns, Walmart stores north of Fairfield and the Sam’s Club in Bangor have raised nearly $3 million since 1987.

On Wednesday, October 17, representatives from Eastern Maine Medical Center Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals stopped by local Walmart stores and the Bangor Sam’s Club store to congratulate and thank associates, as the stores joined in a national celebration of the $1 billion achievement. At the Bangor Sam’s Club store, associates were greeted by a six-foot wide cake which was shared with customers.

“It warms my heart that we do this for the community, especially for local kids,” says Katie Mason, comp shopper at Bangor Sam’s Club. “The fact that our self-checkout associate raised about $3000, that was awesome. Our entrance greeter raised almost the same.”

Funds are raised by Walmart and Sam’s Club one dollar or more at a time at the cash register and at events held by local stores. Funds raised at this year’s campaign at the Bangor, Brewer, Calais, Ellsworth, Houlton, Lincoln, Palmyra, Presque Isle, and Skowhegan Walmart stores will be used to purchase an ultrasound machine for Northern Light Women’s Health located at Eastern Maine Medical Center. Funds from the local Sam’s Club campaign will fund new ventilators for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The money they’ve raised has funded lifesaving equipment, including the neonatal intensive care transport ambulance Miracle One, and helped build the Raish Peavey Haskell Children’s Cancer and Treatment Center and the Eastern Maine Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Walmart and Sam’s Club are playing an important part in making sure that highly specialized children’s care is available in our region, which is truly lifechanging for sick kids and their families.

- Kelly Pearson

At Northern Light Health, we’re building a better approach to healthcare because we believe people deserve access to care that works for them. As an integrated health delivery system serving Maine, we’re raising the bar with no-nonsense solutions that are leading the way to a healthier future for our state. Our more than 12,000 team members are committed to making healthcare work for you: our patients, communities, and employees.